NOTE 

AFTER  lying  buried  for  almost  three  quarters 
of  a  century  in  the  columns  of  a  single  news 
paper,  unknown  even  to  Lincoln  specialists, 
this  eulogy  on  President  Zachary  Taylor  was 
discovered  by  sheer  accident.  It  was  then 
brought  to  the  attention  of  Rev.  William  E. 
Barton,  D.D.,  of  Chicago,  who  has  long  been 
an  ardent  student  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
has  published  several  books  about  him.  By 
diligent  searching  he  was  able  to  gather  the 
many  details  which  he  has  embodied  in  his 
Introduction  to  the  eulogy,  and  the  publish 
ers  have  gladly  cooperated  with  him  for  the 
preservation  of  all  the  material  in  a  worthy 
and  attractive  form. 


4  PARK  STREET,  BOSTON 
Septeniber  1,  1922 


THE  LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF 

GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR 


THIS  EDITION  IS  LIMITED  TO  FOUR  HUNDRED  AND 
THIRTY-FIVE  COPIES,  PRINTED  AT  THE  RIVERSIDE 
PRESS,  CAMBRIDGE,  U.  S.  A.,  OF  WHICH  FOUR  HUN 
DRED  ARE  FOR  SALE.  THIS  IS  NUMBER .  .  .-*-//£. 


THE  LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF 

GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR 

AN  ADDRESS 
BY 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 


1922 


V 


COPYRIGHT,  IQ22,  BY  WILLIAM  E.  BARTON 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


INTRODUCTION 


491 13G 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  discovery  of  an  unknown  address  by 
Abraham  Lincoln  is  an  event  of  literary  and 
historical  significance.  Various  attempts 
have  been  made  to  recover  his  "  Lost  Speech," 
delivered  in  Bloomington,  in  1856.  Henry 
C.  Whitney  undertook  to  reconstruct  it  from 
notes  and  memory,  with  a  result  which  has 
been  approved  by  some  who  heard  it,  while 
others,  including  a  considerable  group  who 
gathered  in  Bloomington  to  celebrate  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  its  original  delivery 
and  of  the  event  which  called  it  forth,  de 
clared  their  conviction  that  "  Abraham 
Lincoln's  'Lost  Speech'  is  still  lost."  So  far 
as  I  am  aware  no  one  now  living  remembers 
to  have  heard  Lincoln's  address  on  the  death 
of  President  Zachary  Taylor.  Lincoln's  ora 
tion  on  the  death  of  Henry  Clay  is  well 


4  INTRODUCTION 

known,  and  his  speech  commemorative  of 
his  friend,  Benjamin  Ferguson,  also  is  of 
record.  His  eulogy  on  President  Zachary 
Taylor,  however,  appears  to  have  been 
wholly  overlooked  by  Lincoln's  biographers 
and  by  the  compilers  of  various  editions 
of  his  works.  Nicolay  and  Hay  make  no 
allusion  to  it,  either  in  their  "Life"  of  Lin 
coln  or  in  their  painstaking  compilations  of 
his  writings  and  speeches.  I  have  found  but 
one  reference  to  it,  that  in  Whitney's  "Life 
on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln." 

Lovers  of  Lincoln  are  to  be  congratulated 
upon  this  discovery,  of  which  some  account  is 
to  be  given  in  this  introduction.  The  address 
was  delivered  in  the  City  Hall  in  Chicago  on 
Thursday  afternoon,  July  25,  1850.  It  was 
printed  in  one  Chicago  paper.  It  was  set  up 
from  Lincoln's  original  manuscript,  furnished 
for  the  purpose. 

President  Taylor  died  at  Washington  on 


INTRODUCTION  5 

July  9,  1850.  The  disease  was  diagnosed  as 
cholera  morbus.  A  number  of  other  distin 
guished  men  were  sick  in  Washington  at  the 
same  time  and  apparently  with  the  same  dis 
ease.  The  death  of  Taylor  was  a  hard  blow  to 
the  Whig  Party.  Of  its  seven  candidates  for 
the  Presidency,  it  succeeded  in  electing  only 
two,  William  Henry  Harrison  and  Zachary 
Taylor,  and  each  of  these  died  not  long  after 
his  election. 

Lincoln  arrived  in  Chicago  two  days  be 
fore  the  President's  death.  The  "  Chicago 
Journal"  of  Monday  evening,  July  8,  1850, 
reported : 

Hon.  A.  Lincoln,  of  Springfield,  arrived  in  town 
yesterday  to  attend  to  duties  in  the  United  States 
District  Court,  now  in  session  in  this  city. 

A  meeting  was  held  in  Chicago  on  the  night 
of  the  President's  death,  Tuesday,  July  9, 
1850,  and  arrangements  were  made  for  a 
memorial  service.  In  accordance  with  the 


6  INTRODUCTION 

journalistic  methods  of  the  times,  the  daily 
papers  reported  the  proceedings  entire. 

The  committee  appointed  evidently  acted 
promptly,  for  the  same  issue  records  that  the 
committee  had  selected  Lincoln  as  the  eulo 
gist,  and  that  he  had  accepted.  The  formal 
acceptance,  however,  was  not  published  un 
til  two  weeks  later,  and  just  before  the  ad 
dress  itself  was  delivered.  The  occasion  for 
the  delay  would  appear  to  have  been  that  the 
Common  Council  of  the  City  of  Chicago  had 
started  independently  a  movement  for  a 
Memorial  Service,  and  that  the  two  commit 
tees  after  some  conference  had  agreed  to  com 
bine  in  one  service  to  be  held  in  the  City 
Hall.  The  following  correspondence  was  pub 
lished  on  Wednesday  evening,  July  24: 

EULOGY  UPON  THE  LATE  PRESIDENT 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  correspondence 
between  the  Hon.  A.  Lincoln  and  the  Committee 
of  Arrangements,  for  paying  a  suitable  tribute  of 
respect  to  the  late  President  of  the  United  States: 


INTRODUCTION  7 

A.  LINCOLN,  ESQ. 

Sir :  —  We,  the  undersigned  Committee,  ap 
pointed  at  a  meeting  of  our  fellow  citizens,  to  act 
in  conjunction  with  the  Committee  appointed  by 
the  Common  Council  of  this  city,  to  select  a  suit 
able  person  to  deliver  an  address  to  our  citizens 
at  the  City  Hall  upon  the  life  of  Z.  Taylor,  de 
ceased,  late  President  of  the  United  States  of 
America. 

We  have,  with  great  unanimity  of  feeling  and 
sentiment  of  both  Committees,  selected  yourself 
for  the  purpose  named  —  and  desire  that  you  will 
be  kind  enough  to  accept  thereof  and  to  name  the 
time  when  you  will  perform  that  duty,  of  address 
ing  your  fellow-citizens  of  Chicago,  at  the  place 
named. 

With  sentiments  of  high  esteem 
Your  fellow-citizens 

L.  C.  KERCHEVAL 
B.  S.  MORRIS 
G.  W.  DOLE 

J.  H.  KlNZIE 

W.  L.  NEWBERRY 

CHICAGO,  ILL.,  July  24,  1850 
GENTLEMEN  :  — 

Yours  of  the  22nd  inviting  me  to  deliver  an  ad 
dress  to  the  citizens  of  this  city  upon  the  life  of 


8  INTRODUCTION 

Z.  Taylor,  deceased,  late  President  of  the  United 
States,  was  duly  received.  The  want  of  time  for 
preparation  will  make  the  task,  for  me,  a  very  dif 
ficult  one  to  perform,  in  any  degree  satisfactory 
to  others  or  to  myself.  Still  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty 
to  decline  the  invitation;  and  therefore  I  will  fix 
to-morrow  as  the  time.  The  hour  may  be  any 
you  think  proper,  after  12  o'clock  M. 
Your  Ob 't.  Serv't 

A.  LINCOLN 
Messrs.  L.  C.  KERCHEVAL 

B.  S.  MORRIS 

GEO.  W.  DOLE 

JOHN  H.  KINZIE 

W.  L.  NEWBERRY 

Formal  announcement  of  the  time  and 
place  appeared  in  the  papers  of  Thursday, 
July  25. 

EULOGY 

The  Eulogy  upon  General  Taylor  will  be  de 
livered  at  4  o  'clock  this  afternoon  at  the  City  Hall, 
by  A.  Lincoln,  Esq.,  in  obedience  to  the  request  of 
the  Council,  and  of  citizens. 

The  Committee  of  Arrangements  took 
action  immediately  following  the  address  and 
on  the  same  day  made  formal  request  of  Mr. 


INTRODUCTION  9 

Lincoln  for  a  copy  of  the  address  for  publi 
cation.  The  committee's  letter  and  Lincoln's 
reply  were  both  printed  in  full: 

CHICAGO,  July  25,  1850 
DEAR  SIR:  — 

Having  listened  with  great  satisfaction  to  the 
chaste  and  beautiful  eulogism  on  the  character 
and  services  of  Zachary  Taylor,  late  President  of 
the  United  States,  pronounced  by  you  before  the 
citizens  of  Chicago,  and  desirous  that  the  public 
at  large  may  participate  in  the  pleasure  enjoyed 
by  those  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  present 
on  the  occasion,  we  respectfully  request  that  you 
will  furnish  a  copy  of  your  address  for  publication. 
With  great  regard 

Your  obedient  servants 

L.  C.  KERCHEVAL,  City  Committee 
RICHARD  J.  HAMILTON, 

For  the  Committee  Common  Council 
City  of  Chicago. 

To  HON.  A.  LINCOLN 

CHICAGO,  July  26,  1850 
GENTLEMEN:  — 

Your  polite  note  of  yesterday,  requesting  for 
publication  a  copy  of  the  address  on  the  life  and 
public  services  of  Gen.  Taylor,  is  received;  and  I 


10  INTRODUCTION 

comply  with  the  request  very  cheerfully.  Accom 
panying  this  I  send  you  the  original  manuscript. 
Your  ob't  serv't 

A.  LINCOLN 

Messrs.  L.  C.  KERCHEVAL 
R.  J.  HAMILTON 

As  was  fitting,  the  committee  turned  over 
the  manuscript  to  "The  Journal,"  a  Whig 
paper,  and  "  The  Journal "  undertook  to  fur 
nish  the  address  to  its  readers  on  Saturday, 
July  27.  It  found  itself  under  the  necessity 
however,  of  printing  only  part  of  the  address 
in  that  issue,  and  apologized  with  a  state 
ment  that  postponement  of  the  remainder 
was  due  to  illness  among  its  workmen.  On 
Monday  the  address  was  printed  complete. 
The  type  used  in  the  Saturday  issue  re 
mained  standing  and  the  remainder  of  the 
Eulogy  was  set  up,  and  joined  to  it. 

My  attention  was  called  to  this  report  by 
Hon.  Edward  W.  Baker,  of  Barry,  Illinois, 
who  having  undertaken  to  discover  in  the 


INTRODUCTION  11 

Chicago  Historical  Society  another  matter 
relating  to  Lincoln,  in  which  we  were  both 
interested,  found  this  address  and  reported 
it  to  me,  with  an  inquiry  whether  I  had 
knowledge  of  it.  I  made  search  of  the  daily 
papers  of  the  period  and  found  not  only  the 
address,  but  the  correspondence  and  notable 
items  as  here  given. 

Lincoln  must  have  been  glad  of  this  op 
portunity  to  speak  out  of  his  heart  his  words 
of  sincere  admiration  for  a  man  whom  he 
had  helped  to  elect  President  of  the  United 
States.  From  the  outset  Lincoln  had  be 
lieved  in  Taylor,  while  many  other  Whigs 
refused  to  support,  or  supported  with  languid 
interest,  a  candidate  who  was  a  slave-holder 
and  who  had  borne  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
Mexican  War. 

Taylor  was  nominated  by  a  Whig  Conven 
tion,  which  met  in  Philadelphia,  June  7, 
1848.  The  party  was  so  divided  that  it  could 


12  INTRODUCTION 

not  put  forth  a  distinctive  platform.  Even 
an  attempt  to  unite  upon  an  expression  con 
cerning  the  Wilmot  Proviso  was  regarded  as 
so  divisive  that  it  was  not  permitted  to  come 
to  a  vote.  The  real  platform  was  General 
Taylor,  and  his  popular  nickname,  "Old 
Rough  and  Ready."  Although  Taylor  was  no 
politician  and  a  stranger  even  to  the  ballot- 
box,  he  regarded  himself  as  a  Whig,  but  he 
took  pains  to  explain  that  he  was  not  an 
"  ultra  Whig."  Daniel  Webster  called  him 
"  an  ignorant  old  frontier  Colonel,"  but  not 
only  Webster,  but  Clay  and  Seward,  joined 
in  his  support.  Many  a  Whig  who  voted  for 
Taylor  accepted  him  as  the  choice  of  two 
evils.  Lincoln,  however,  was  enthusiastic  in 
his  support  of  the  nominee.  He  went  into 
the  campaign,  as  Nicolay  and  Hay  remind  us, 
with  "  exultant  alacrity."  They  say  : 

He  could  not  even  wait  for  the  adjournment  of 
Congress  to  begin  his  stump  speaking.   Follow- 


INTRODUCTION  13 

ing  the  bad  example  of  the  rest  of  his  colleagues,  he 
obtained  the  floor  on  the  27th  of  July  and  made  a 
long,  brilliant  and  humorous  speech,  upon  the 
merits  of  the  two  candidates  before  the  people.  — 
(Abraham  Lincoln:  A  History,  vol.  i,  p.  279.) 

This  was  Lincoln's  noted  "  coat-tail  speech/7 
in  which  he  paid  his  respects  to  General  Cass, 
the  candidate  of  the  Democrats. 

Immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  Con 
gress,  Lincoln  went  to  New  England,  where 
he  delivered  speeches  in  favor  of  Taylor,  and 
opposing  not  so  much  the  Democrats  as  the 
Free-Soilers,  whose  hostility  was  weakening 
and  threatening  to  defeat  the  Whig  Party. 

Lincoln  fully  expected  that  Taylor  when 
elected  would  remember  and  reward  him  for 
this  service.  What  Lincoln  wanted,  inas 
much  as  he  was  not  permitted  to  return  to 
Congress,  was  an  appointment  as  General 
Commissioner  of  the  United  States  Land 
Office  in  Washington.  To  his  bitter  disap 
pointment  Taylor  did  not  appoint  him,  but 


14  INTRODUCTION 

gave  the  position  to  Justin  Butterfield,  of 
Chicago,  who  was  said  to  have  been  favored 
by  Daniel  Webster. 

Although  Lincoln's  chief  activity  in  the 
Taylor  campaign  was  outside  the  State  of 
Illinois,  it  happened  that  he  delivered  one 
notable  stump  speech  for  Taylor  in  the  city 
of  Chicago.  It  was  while  he  was  on  his  way 
back  from  the  East,  coming  in  part  by  the 
Great  Lakes,  and  making  his  visit  to  Niagara, 
that  he  stopped  in  Chicago,  Friday,  October 
6, 1848.  The  "Evening  Journal"  announced 
that  "Hon.  A.  Lincoln,  M.C.,  from  this 
State,  and  family,  were  at  the  Sherman 
House."  The  same  issue  called  upon  the 
friends  of  Taylor  and  Fillmore  to  rally  that 
evening  at  the  Court-House  and  hear  Mr. 
Lincoln  on  the  issues  of  the  campaign.  "  The 
notice  is  short,"  said  the  "  Journal,"  "  but  Old 
Zack's  soldiers  are  all  minute  men."  The 
papers  next  day  announced  that  although 


INTRODUCTION  15 

there  was  scant  notice,  only  six  hours,  the 
Court-House  was  overcrowded,  and  adjourn 
ment  had  to  be  taken  to  the  park,  where 
Lincoln  spoke  for  two  hours  in  what  the  edi 
tor  declared  was  one  of  the  best  political 
speeches  which  the  editor  had  ever  heard  or 
read. 

When  General  Taylor  died,  it  was  emi 
nently  fitting  that  Lincoln,  as  the  one  Whig 
member  from  Illinois  of  the  last  Congress  be 
fore  the  election  of  Taylor,  should  have  been 
invited  to  deliver  the  Eulogy  upon  him.  His 
arrival  in  Chicago,  two  days  before  the  death 
of  President  Taylor,  furnished  a  convenient 
opportunity  for  the  people  of  the  city  to  hear 
him.  If  Lincoln  had  any  feelings,  as  he  may 
well  have  had,  that  General  Taylor  did  not 
sufficiently  recognize  Lincoln's  activities  in 
the  campaign  that  led  to  his  election,  the 
address  portrays  nothing  of  his  disappoint 
ment.  Though  the  address  was  hastily  pre- 


16  INTRODUCTION 

pared  in  the  midst  of  duties  which  kept  him 
more  or  less  busy  in  court,  he  accepted  the 
invitation  gladly  and  improved  the  occasion 
to  the  satisfaction  of  his  hearers. 

In  a  number  of  respects  the  address  of  Lin 
coln  presents  points  of  interest.  First  of  all, 
it  is  notable  in  its  biographical  character.  It 
presents  in  outline  a  fairly  complete  account 
of  the  life  and  service  of  General  Taylor. 
Lincoln  doubtless  availed  himself  of  such 
biographical  data  as  the  campaign  had  re 
cently  produced  and  which  Lincoln  found  at 
hand  in  Chicago  after  the  invitation  had  been 
received  by  him  to  deliver  the  address. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  in  speaking  of  Tay 
lor's  invasion  of  Mexican  territory,  Lincoln 
takes  pains  to  state  that  he  did  it  under  or 
ders.  It  was  this  fact  that  enabled  Lincoln 
and  other  Whigs  who  were  opposed  on  prin 
ciple  to  the  Mexican  War  to  support  Taylor 
for  the  Presidency.  They  were  particular  to 


INTRODUCTION  17 

explain  that  he  performed  that  act  as  a  sol 
dier,  under  orders,  and  that  the  Polk  Admin 
istration  was  responsible,  and  not  their  own 
candidate.  In  this  address  Lincoln  did  not 
enlarge  upon  that  fact,  but  he  did  not  fail  to 
state  it. 

His  favorable  comment  upon  the  fact  that 
Taylor  had  not  engaged  in  dueling  is  the  more 
notable  because  Lincoln  had  himself  been  an 
unwilling  participant  in  what  had  threatened 
to  be  a  duel  —  a  fact  of  which  he  was  never 
very  proud. 

It  is  notable  that  he  speaks  of  Taylor's 
freedom  from  ambition  to  be  President  until 
the  position  came  within  the  range  of  possi 
bility,  and  then  became  possessed  of  a  "laud 
able  ambition "  to  secure  the  position.  Lin 
coln  had  not  as  yet  precisely  an  ambition  of 
that  character,  but  there  always  lurked  in  his 
mind  the  possibility  that  he  might  rise  to  that 
high  position.  Even  in  1848,  when  he  had  not 


18  INTRODUCTION 

been  reflected  to  Congress,  and  had  been  dis 
appointed  in  his  remaining  political  ambi 
tion,  he  still  thought  the  desire  to  become 
President  a  "  laudable  ambition." 

We  note  in  the  oration  one  or  two  studied 
attempts  at  eloquence,  such  as  character 
ized  the  earlier  oratory  of  Lincoln,  but  which 
disappeared  wholly  from  his  later  and  more 
chaste  style.  The  description  of  the  mutual 
solicitude  of  the  garrison  of  Fort  Brown  and 
the  party  of  soldiers  outside  the  fort,  and  of 
the  relief  that  was  succeeded  by  a  cry  of 
"Victory,"  must  have  been  dramatic,  and 
it  shows  at  its  best  that  earlier  vein  of  Abra 
ham  Lincoln's  studied  attempt  at  oratorical 
effect. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  because  most 
characteristic  qualities  of  the  address  is  the 
appreciation  of  the  magnanimity  of  General 
Taylor,  as  exemplified  in  his  treatment  of 
Colonel  Worth.  This  I  regard  as  one  of  the 


INTRODUCTION  19 

best  things  in  the  address,  because  it  was  an 
example  of  what  was  best  in  that  bluff  and 
sensible  and  generous  old  soldier,  Zachary 
Taylor,  and  because  it  was  so  nobly  char 
acteristic  also  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  Lincoln 
emphasized  that  quality  in  Taylor,  because 
he  unconsciously  sought  out  in  him  what 
was  most  truly  like  to  his  own  noble  nature. 
Orations  by  one  President  upon  another 
are  none  too  common  in  American  literature ; 
and  this  by  Lincoln  upon  Taylor  is  of  value  in 
its  estimate  of  the  best  in  Taylor  as  discerned 
by  one  in  whom  the  same  quality  was  wor 
thily  present.  Lincoln  would  have  done  for 
Worth  what  Taylor  did.  He  treated  in  sim 
ilar  fashion  the  men  who  opposed  him. 

One  feature  of  the  oration  has  remarkable 

interest.    It  appears  to  have  been  the  only 

address  of  Lincoln's  in  which  he  made  use 

of  his  favorite  poem,  — 

"Oh,  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud?" 


20  INTRODUCTION 

This  poem  he  quoted  so  often  to  his  friends 
that  some  of  them  supposed  him  to  have  been 
its  author,  but  so  far  as  a  search  of  his  pub 
lished  works  can  show,  he  did  not  use  it  in  any 
other  formal  address. 

Lincoln  often  inquired  of  his  friends 
whether  any  of  them  knew  the  author  of  this 
poem.  So  far  as  is  known,  he  never  learned. 
Herndon,  in  his  lecture  which  has  served 
as  the  basis  of  all  the  literature  concerning 
Lincoln  and  Ann  Rutledge,  informs  us  that, 
after  the  death  of  Ann,  Lincoln  formed  an 
attachment  for  this  poem.  It  has  been  af 
firmed  that  he  learned  it  from  Ann.  I  have 
inquired  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Rutledge  Saunders, 
surviving  l  sister  of  Ann  Rutledge,  whether 
her  mother  knew  this  poem  and  taught  it  to 
her  daughters,  Ann  included.  She  replied: 

Yes,  Mother  knew  the  poem,  "  Oh,  why  should 

1  Mrs.  Saunders  was  living  when  this  Introduction 
was  written,  but  died  May  1,  1922. 


INTRODUCTION  21 

the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud."  But  she  did  not 
teach  it  to  Lincoln.  The  girls  and  Mother  learned 
it  from  Lincoln.  They  always  called  it  Lincoln's 
song. 

The  first  allusion  made  to  this  poem  in  any 
of  Lincoln's  letters,  that  I  have  seen,  was  in 
April,  1846,  when  he  was  writing  some  verses 
of  his  own,  and  comparing  them  with  those 
of  another  budding  poet,  William  Johnson. 
Johnson  had  sent  to  Lincoln  a  poem  which  he 
had  written,  a  parody  upon  Poe's  "  Raven." 
Lincoln  had  never  read  the  "  Raven,"  but  he 
sent  to  Johnson  some  lines  of  his  own,  com 
posed  after  his  visit  to  his  old  home  in  Indi 
ana  in  the  fall  of  1844.  Subsequently,  in 
September,  1846,  Lincoln  sent  him  additional 
lines  suggested  by  the  same  visit.  It  is  in  the 
letter  of  April  18,  1846,  that  Lincoln  refers  to 
the  poem,  "  Oh  why  should  the  spirit  of  mor 
tal  be  proud?"  He  says: 

I  have  not  your  letter  now  before  me;  but  from 
memory,  I  think  you  ask  me  who  is  the  author  of 


22  INTRODUCTION 

the  piece  I  sent  you,  and  that  you  do  so  ask  as  to 
indicate  a  slight  suspicion  that  I  am  the  author. 
Beyond  all  question,  I  am  not  the  author.  I  would 
give  all  I  am  worth,  and  go  in  debt,  to  be  able  to 
write  so  fine  a  piece  as  I  think  that  is.  I  met  it  in 
a  straggling  newspaper  last  summer,  and  I  re 
member  to  have  seen  it  once  before,  about  fifteen 
years  ago,  and  this  is  all  I  know  about  it. 

The  statement  that  he  first  had  seen  the 
poem  about  fifteen  years  before  1846  —  that 
is,  about  1831  —  carries  his  acquaintance  with 
it  back  to  the  period  of  his  friendship  for  Ann 
Rutledge,  and  it  is  not  at  all  improbable  that 
she  learned  it  at  the  same  time. 

After  Lincoln  had  become  President,  he  is 
said  to  have  made  one  or  more  copies  of  this 
poem  for  personal  friends;  but  I  have  not  seen 
any  of  these  copies.  It  would  be  interesting 
to  know  whether  he  ever  knew  the  whole 
poem. 

Literary  critics  have  not  shared  his  high 
estimate  of  the  composition.  In  general 
they  have  esteemed  it  a  rather  mediocre 


INTRODUCTION  23 

piece.  But  its  rhythm  is  accurate,  and  its 
rhyme  is  good,  and  its  plaintive  sentiment  ac 
corded  with  the  melancholy  of  Lincoln  and  of 
his  social  environment.  It  is  not  the  only 
poem  of  no  great  literary  merit  which  became 
popular  in  that  period;  and  it  would  have 
been  forgotten  with  the  rest  but  for  the  as 
sociation  of  its  lines  with  the  name  of  Abra 
ham  Lincoln.  He  gave  to  it  and  its  author 
their  chief  claim  to  immortality. 
During  his  Presidency,  Lincoln  said : 

There  is  a  poem  which  has  been  a  great  favorite 
with  me  for  years,  which  was  first  shown  me  when 
a  young  man,  by  a  friend,  and  which  I  afterwards 
saw  and  cut  from  a  newspaper  and  learned  by 
heart.  I  would  give  a  good  deal  to  know  who  wrote 
it,  but  I  have  never  been  able  to  ascertain. 

The  author  of  the  poem,  "Oh,  why  should 
the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud?"  was  William 
Knox,  who  was  born  at  Firth,  in  the  parish  of 
Lilliesleaf,  in  the  county  of  Roxburghshire, 
in  Scotland,  on  the  17th  of  August,  1789, 


24  INTRODUCTION 

and  who  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-six.  From 
his  early  childhood  he  wrote  verses,  and  he 
attained  sufficient  prominence  to  win  the 
attention  of  Walter  Scott,  who  encouraged 
him  and  loaned  him  money.  What  he  might 
have  done  had  he  lived,  we  do  not  know;  but 
this  is  the  only  poem  of  his  that  has  any  claim 
to  distinction,  and  that  not  for  its  own  out 
standing  merit,  but  for  its  association  with 
Abraham  Lincoln. 

Knox's  earliest  volume,  "The  Harp  of 
Zion,"  was  published  in  1825,  and  does  not 
contain  this  poem.  What  appears  to  have 
been  an  inclusive  volume  of  the  poems  of 
Knox  was  published  in  London  and  Edin 
burgh  in  1847,  and  bore  the  title  "  The  Lonely 
Hearth,  The  Songs  of  Israel,  Harp  of  Zion, 
and  Other  Poems."  This  includes  the  poem 
which  bears  the  title  "  Mortality."  It  is  in 
teresting  to  recall  that  it  has  sometimes  been 
printed  with  the  title  "  Immortality."  To 


INTRODUCTION  25 

that  title,  however,  it  can  bear  no  claim. 
It  will  be  of  interest  to  compare  the  poem 
in  its  entirety  with  the  stanzas  which  Lin 
coln  quoted  on  the  occasion  of  his  oration  in 
memory  of  the  deceased  President,  General 
Zachary  Taylor. 


MORTALITY 
BY  WILLIAM  KNOX 

OH,  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud? 
Like  a  swift  flying  meteor,  a  fast  flying  cloud, 
A  flash  of  the  lightning,  a  break  of  the  wave, 
Man  passeth  from  life  to  his  rest  in  the  grave. 

The  leaves  of  the  oak  and  the  willow  shall  fade, 

Be  scattered  around  and  together  be  laid; 

And  the  young  and  the  old,  and  the  low  and  the 

high, 
Shall  moulder  to  dust  and  together  shall  lie. 

The  infant  a  mother  attended  and  loved; 
The  mother  that  infant's  affection  who  proved; 
The  husband  that  mother  and  infant  who  blessed, 
Each,  all,  are  away  to  their  dwellings  of  rest. 

The  maid  on  whose  cheek,  on  whose  brow,  in 

whose  eye, 
Shone  beauty  and  pleasure,  —  her  triumphs  are 

by; 

And  the  memory  of  those  who  loved  her  and 

praised, 
Are  alike  from  the  minds  of  the  living  erased. 


28  MORTALITY 

The  hand  of  the  king  that  the  sceptre  hath  borne; 
The   brow  of   the   priest  that  the  mitre  hath 

worn; 

The  eye  of  the  sage  and  the  heart  of  the  brave, 
Are  hidden  and  lost  in  the  depth  of  the  grave. 

The  peasant  whose  lot  was  to  sow  and  to  reap; 
The  herdsman  who  climbed  with  his  goats  up 

the  steep; 

The  beggar  who  wandered  in  search  of  his  bread, 
Have  faded  away  like  the  grass  that  we  tread. 

The  saint  who  enjoyed  the  communion  of  heaven; 
The  sinner  who  dared  to  remain  unforgiven; 
The  wise  and  the  foolish,  the  guilty  and  just, 
Have  quietly  mingled  their  bones  in  the  dust. 

So  the  multitude  goes,  like  the  flower  or  the 

weed, 

That  withers  away  to  let  others  succeed; 
So  the  multitude  comes,  even  those  we  behold, 
To  repeat  every  tale  that  has  often  been  told. 

For  we  are  the  same  our  fathers  have  been; 
We  see  the  same  sights  our  fathers  have  seen,  — 
We  drink  the  same  stream  and  view  the  same 

sun, 
And  run  the  same  course  our  fathers  have  run. 


MORTALITY  29 

The  thoughts  we  are  thinking  our  fathers  would 

think; 
From  the  death  we  are  shrinking  our  fathers 

would  shrink; 
To  the  life  we  are  clinging  our  fathers  would 

cling; 
But  it  speeds  for  us  all,  like  a  bird  on  the  wing. 

They  loved,  but  the  story  we  cannot  unfold; 
They  scorned,  but  the  heart  of  the  haughty  is 

cold; 
They  grieved,  but  no  wail  from  their  slumbers  will 

come; 
They  joyed,  but  the  tongue  of  their  gladness  is 

dumb. 

They  died,  ay!  they  died:  and  we  things  that  are 

now, 

Who  walk  on  the  turf  that  lies  over  their  brow, 
Who  make  in  their  dwelling  a  transient  abode, 
Meet  the  things  that  they  met  on  their  pilgrimage 

road. 

Yea!  hope  and  despondency,  pleasure  and  pain, 

We  mingle  together  in  sunshine  and  rain; 

And  the  smiles  and  the  tears,  the  song  and  the 

dirge, 
Still  follow  each  other,  like  surge  upon  surge. 


30  MORTALITY 

'T  is  the  wink  of  an  eye,  't  is  the  draught  of  a 

breath, 
From  the  blossom  of  health  to  the  paleness  of 

death, 
From  the   gilded   saloon  to   the  bier  and   the 

shroud,  — 
Oh,  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud? 


THE  LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF 

GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR 


EULOGY 

PRONOUNCED  BY  HON.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ON  THE  LIFE  AND  SERVICES  OP 
THE  LATE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR,  the  eleventh 
elected  President  of  the  United  States,  is 
dead.  He  was  born,  November  2,  1784,  in 
Orange  County,  Virginia;  and  died  July  9, 
1850,  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age,  at 
the  White  House  in  Washington  City. 

He  was  the  second  son  of  Richard  Taylor, 
a  Colonel  in  the  Army  of  the  Revolution. 
His  youth  was  passed  among  the  pioneers  of 
Kentucky,  whither  his  parents  emigrated 
soon  after  his  birth;  and  where  his  taste  for 
military  We,  probably  inherited,  was  greatly 
stimulated.  Near  the  commencement  of  our 
last  war  with  Great  Britain,  he  was  ap 
pointed,  by  President  Jefferson,  a  Lieutenant 
in  the  Seventh  Regiment  of  Infantry.  Dur 
ing  the  war,  he  served  under  General  Harri- 


34  LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF 
eon  :n  his  North- Western  campaign  against 
the  Indians;  and,  having  been  promoted  to 
a  Captaincy,  was  entrusted  with  the  defense 
of  Fort  Harrison,  with  fifty  men,  half  of  them 
unfit  for  duty.  A  strong  party  of  Indians, 
under  the  Prophet,  brother  of  Tecumseh, 
made  a  midnight  attack  upon  the  Fort;  but 
Taylor,  though  weak  in  his  force,  and  without 
preparation,  was  resolute  and  on  the  alert; 
and  after  a  battle,  which  lasted  till  after  day 
light,  completely  repulsed  them.  Soon  after, 
he  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  expedition 
under  Major-General  Hopkins  against  the 
Prophet's  town;  and  on  his  return,  found  a 
letter  from  President  Madison,  who  had  suc 
ceeded  Mr.  Jefferson,  conferring  on  him  a 
Major's  brevet  for  his  gallant  defense  of  Fort 
Harrison. 

After  the  close  of  the  British  war,  he  re 
mained  in  the  frontier  service  of  the  West, 
till  1818.  He  was  then  transferred  to  the 


GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR     35 

Southern  frontier,  where  he  remained,  most 
of  the  time,  in  active  service  till  1826.  In 
1819,  and  during  his  service  in  the  South,  he 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel.  In  1826  he  was  again  sent  to  the 
North- West,  where  he  continued  until  1836. 
In  1832  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
Colonel.  In  1836  he  was  ordered  to  the  South 
to  engage  in  what  is  well  known  as  the  Flor 
ida  War.  In  the  autumn  of  1837  he  fought 
and  conquered  in  the  memorable  Battle  of 
Okeechobee,  one  of  the  most  desperate  strug 
gles  known  to  the  annals  of  Indian  warfare. 
For  this  he  was  honored  with  the  rank 
of  Brigadier-General;  and  in  1838  was  ap 
pointed  to  succeed  General  Jessup  in  com 
mand  of  the  forces  in  Florida.  In  1841  he  was 
ordered  to  Fort  Gibson  to  take  command  of 
the  Second  Military  Department  of  the 
United  States;  and  in  September,  1844,  was 
directed  to  hold  the  troops  between  the  Red 


36          LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF 

River  and  the  Sabine  in  readiness  to  march 
as  might  be  indicated  by  the  charge  of  the 
United  States,  near  Texas.  In  1845  his  forces 
were  concentrated  at  Corpus  Christi. 

In  obedience  to  orders,  in  March,  1846, 
he  planted  his  troops  on  the  Rio  Grande  op 
posite  Matamoras.  Soon  after  this,  and  near 
this  place,  a  small  detachment  of  General 
Taylor's  forces,  under  Captain  Thornton, 
was  cut  to  pieces  by  a  party  of  Mexicans. 
Open  hostilities  being  thus  commenced,  and 
General  Taylor  being  constantly  menaced  by 
Mexican  forces  vastly  superior  to  his  own 
in  numbers,  his  position  became  exceedingly 
critical.  Having  erected  a  fort,  he  might  de 
fend  himself  against  great  odds  while  he 
could  remain  within  it;  but  his  provisions 
had  failed,  and  there  was  no  supply  nearer 
than  Point  Isabel,  between  which  and  the 
new  fort  the  country  was  open  to,  and  full  of, 
armed  Mexicans.  His  resolution  was  at  once 


GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR     37 

taken.  He  garrisoned  Fort  Brown  (the  new 
fort)  with  a  force  of  about  four  hundred ;  and, 
putting  himself  at  the  head  of  the  main  body 
of  his  troops,  marched  forthwith  for  Point 
Isabel.  He  met  no  resistance  on  his  march. 
Having  obtained  his  supplies,  he  began  his 
return  march,  to  the  relief  of  Fort  Brown, 
which  he  at  first  knew  would  be,  and  then 
knew  had  been,  besieged  by  the  enemy,  im 
mediately  upon  his  leaving  it.  On  the  first  or 
second  day  of  his  return  march,  the  Mexican 
General,  Arista,  met  General  Taylor  in  front, 
and  offered  battle.  The  Mexicans  numbered 
six  or  eight  thousand,  opposed  to  whom  were 
about  two  thousand  Americans.  The  mo 
ment  was  a  trying  one.  Comparatively,  Tay 
lor's  forces  were  but  a  handful;  and  few,  of 
either  officers  or  men,  had  ever  been  under 
fire.  A  brief  council  was  held;  and  the  result 
was  the  battle  commenced.  The  issue  of  that 
contest  all  remember  —  remember  with 


38          LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF 
mingled  sensations  of  pride  and  sorrow,  that 
then  American  valor  and  powers  triumphed, 
and  then  the  gallant  and  accomplished  and 
noble  Ringgold  fell. 

The  Americans  passed  the  night  on  the 
field.  The  General  knew  the  enemy  was  still 
in  his  front;  and  the  question  rose  upon  him, 
whether  to  advance  or  retreat.  A  council  was 
again  held;  and  it  is  said,  the  General  over 
ruled  the  majority,  and  resolved  to  advance. 
Accordingly,  in  the  morning,  he  moved  rap 
idly  forward.  At  about  four  or  five  miles  from 
Fort  Brown  he  again  met  the  enemy  in  force, 
who  had  selected  his  position,  and  made 
some  hasty  fortifications.  Again  the  battle 
commenced,  and  raged  till  nightfall,  when  the 
Mexicans  were  entirely  routed,  and  the  Gen 
eral,  with  his  fatigued  and  bleeding  and  re 
duced  battalions,  marched  into  Fort  Brown. 
There  was  a  joyous  meeting.  A  brief  hour 
before,  whether  all  within  had  perished,  all 


GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR     39 

without  feared,  but  none  could  tell  —  while 
the  incessant  roar  of  artillery  wrought  those 
within  to  the  highest  pitch  of  apprehension, 
that  their  brethren  without  were  being  mas 
sacred  to  the  last  man.  And  now  the  din  of 
battle  nears  the  fort,  and  sweeps  obliquely 
by:  a  gleam  of  hope  flies  through  the  half- 
imprisoned  few;  they  fly  to  the  wall;  every 
eye  is  strained ;  it  is  —  it  is  —  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  are  still  aloft !  Anon  the  anxious  breth 
ren  meet;  and  while  hand  strikes  hand,  the 
heavens  are  rent  with  a  loud,  long,  glorious, 
gushing  cry  of  Victory!  Victory!!  Victory!!! 

Soon  after  these  battles,  General  Taylor 
was  brevetted  a  Major-General  in  the  United 
States  Army. 

In  the  meantime,  war  having  been  de 
clared  to  exist  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico,  provision  was  made  to  reinforce 
General  Taylor;  and  he  was  ordered  to  march 
into  the  interior  of  Mexico.  He  next  marched 


40          LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF 

upon  Monterey,  arriving  there  on  the  nine 
teenth  of  September.  He  commenced  an  as 
sault  upon  the  city,  on  the  twenty-first;  and 
on  the  twenty-third,  was  about  carrying  it  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet,  when  General  Am- 
pudia  capitulated.  Taylor's  forces  consisted 
of  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  officers,  and 
nine  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty  men. 
His  artillery  consisted  of  one  ten-inch  mor 
tar,  two  twenty-four-pound  howitzers,  and 
eight  field  batteries  of  four  guns,  the  mortar 
being  the  only  piece  serviceable  for  the  siege. 
The  Mexican  works  were  armed  with  forty- 
two  pieces  of  cannon,  and  manned  with  a 
force  of  at  least  seven  thousand  troops  of 
the  line,  and  from  two  to  three  thousand 
irregulars. 

Next  we  find  him  advancing  farther  into 
the  interior  of  Mexico,  at  the  head  of  five 
thousand  four  hundred  men,  not  more  than 
six  hundred  being  regular  troops. 


GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR     41 

At  Agua  Nueva,  he  received  intelligence 
that  Santa  Anna,  the  greatest  military  chief 
tain  of  Mexico,  was  advancing  after  him; 
and  he  fell  back  to  Buena  Vista,  a  strong 
position  a  few  miles  in  advance  of  Saltillo. 
On  the  twenty-second  of  February,  1847,  the 
battle,  now  called  the  Battle  of  Buena  Vista, 
was  commenced  by  Santa  Anna  at  the  head 
of  twenty  thousand  well-appointed  soldiers. 
This  was  General  Taylor's  great  battle.  The 
particulars  of  it  are  familiar  to  all.  It  con 
tinued  through  the  twenty-third;  and  al 
though  General  Taylor's  defeat  seemed  inev 
itable,  yet  he  succeeded  by  skill,  and  by  the 
courage  and  devotion  of  his  officers  and  men, 
in  repulsing  the  overwhelming  forces  of  the 
enemy,  and  throwing  them  back  into  the 
desert.  This  was  the  battle  of  the  chiefest 
interest  fought  during  the  Mexican  War.  At 
the  time  it  was  fought,  and  for  some  weeks 
after,  General  Taylor's  communication  with 


42  LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF 

the  United  States  was  cut  off;  and  the  road 
was  in  possession  of  parties  of  the  enemy. 
For  many  days  after  full  intelligence  of  it 
should  have  been  in  all  parts  of  this  country, 
nothing  certain  concerning  it  was  known, 
while  vague  and  painful  rumors  were  afloat, 
that  a  great  battle  had  been  fought,  and  that 
General  Taylor  and  his  whole  force  had  been 
annihilated.  At  length  the  truth  came,  with 
its  thrilling  details  of  victory  and  blood,  —  of 
glory  and  grief.  A  bright  and  glowing  page 
was  added  to  our  Nation's  history;  but  then, 
too,  in  eternal  silence,  lay  Clay  and  McKee 
and  Yell  and  Lincoln,  and  our  own  beloved 
Hardin. 

This  was  also  General  Taylor's  last  battle. 
He  remained  in  active  service  in  Mexico  till 
the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  when  he  re 
turned  to  the  United  States. 

Passing  in  review  General  Taylor's  mili 
tary  history,  some  striking  peculiarities  will 


GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR     43 

appear.  No  one  of  the  six  battles  which  he 
fought,  except,  perhaps,  that  of  Monterey, 
presented  a  field  which  would  have  been  se 
lected  by  an  ambitious  captain  upon  which  to 
gather  laurels.  So  far  as  fame  is  concerned, 
the  prospect  —  the  promise  in  advance  — 
was,  "  You  may  lose,  but  you  cannot  win." 
Yet  Taylor,  in  his  blunt,  business-like  view  of 
things,  seems  never  to  have  thought  of  this. 
It  did  not  happen  to  General  Taylor,  once 
in  his  life,  to  fight  a  battle  on  equal  terms,  or 
on  terms  advantageous  to  himself  —  and  yet 
he  was  never  beaten,  and  he  never  retreated. 
In  all,  the  odds  were  greatly  against  him;  in 
each,  defeat  seemed  inevitable;  and  yet  in  all 
he  triumphed.  Wherever  he  has  led,  while  the 
battle  still  raged,  the  issue  was  painfully 
doubtful;  yet  in  each  and  all,  when  the  din 
had  ceased,  and  the  smoke  had  blown  away, 
our  country's  flag  was  still  seen,  fluttering  in 
the  breeze. 


44  LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SEKVICE  OF 

General  Taylor's  battles  were  not  dis 
tinguished  for  brilliant  military  maneuvers; 
but  in  all  he  seems  rather  to  have  conquered 
by  the  exercise  of  a  sober  and  steady  judg 
ment,  coupled  with  a  dogged  incapacity  to 
understand  that  defeat  was  possible.  His 
rarest  military  trait  was  a  combination  of 
negatives  —  absence  of  excitement  and  ab 
sence  of  fear.  He  could  not  be  flurried,  and 
he  could  not  be  scared. 

In  connection  with  General  Taylor's  mil 
itary  character  may  be  mentioned  his  re 
lations  with  his  brother  officers,  and  his  sol 
diers.  Terrible  as  he  was  to  his  country's 
enemies,  no  man  was  so  little  disposed  to  have 
difficulty  with  his  friends.  During  the  period 
of  his  life,  dueling  was  a  practice  not  quite 
uncommon  among  gentlemen  in  the  peace 
ful  avocations  of  life,  and  still  more  com 
mon  among  the  officers  of  the  Army  and 
Navy,  yet,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  a  duel  with 


GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR     45 

General  Taylor  has  never  been  talked  of. 
He  was  alike  averse  to  sudden  and  to  star 
tling  quarrels;  and  he  pursued  no  man  with 
revenge.  A  notable  and  a  noble  instance  of 
this  is  found  in  his  conduct  to  the  gallant  and 
now  lamented  General  Worth.  A  short  while 
before  the  battles  of  the  eighth  and  ninth  of 
May,  some  question  of  precedence  arose  be 
tween  Worth  (then  a  Colonel)  and  some  other 
officer,  which  question  it  seems  it  was  General 
Taylor's  duty  to  decide.  He  decided  against 
Worth.  Worth  was  greatly  offended,  left  the 
Army,  came  to  the  United  States,  and  ten 
dered  his  resignation  to  the  authorities  at 
Washington.  It  is  said,  that  in  his  passionate 
feeling,  he  hesitated  not  to  speak  harshly 
and  disparagingly  of  General  Taylor.  He 
was  an  officer  of  the  highest  character;  and 
his  word,  on  military  subjects,  and  about 
military  men,  could  not,  with  the  country, 
pass  for  nothing.  In  this  absence  from  the 


46          LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF 

Army  of  Colonel  Worth,  the  unexpected  turn 
of  things  brought  in  the  battles  of  the  eighth 
and  ninth.  He  was  deeply  mortified  —  in 
almost  absolute  desperation  —  at  having  lost 
the  opportunity  of  being  present,  and  taking 
part  in  those  battles.  The  laurels  won  by 
his  previous  service,  in  his  own  eyes,  seemed 
withering  away.  The  Government,  both 
wisely  and  generously,  I  think,  declined  ac 
cepting  his  resignation;  and  he  returned  to 
General  Taylor.  Then  came  General  Tay 
lor's  opportunity  for  revenge.  The  Battle  of 
Monterey  was  approaching  and  even  at  hand. 
Taylor  could,  if  he  would,  so  place  Worth  in 
that  battle,  that  his  name  would  scarcely  be 
noticed  in  the  report.  But  no.  He  felt  it 
was  due  to  the  service  to  assign  the  real  post 
of  honor  to  some  one  of  the  best  officers;  he 
knew  Worth  was  one  of  the  best,  and  he  felt 
that  it  was  generous  to  allow  him,  then  and 
there,  to  retrieve  his  secret  loss.  Accordingly, 


GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR  47 

he  assigned  to  Colonel  Worth  in  that  assault, 
what  was  par  excellence  the  post  of  honor;  and 
the  duties  of  which  he  executed  so  well  and 
so  brilliantly  as  to  eclipse,  in  that  battle, 
even  General  Taylor,  himself. 

As  to  General  Taylor's  relations  with  his 
soldiers,  details  would  be  endless.  It  is  per 
haps  enough  to  say  —  and  it  is  far  from  the 
least  of  his  honors  that  we  can  truly  say  — 
that  of  the  many  who  served  with  him, 
through  the  long  course  of  forty  years,  all 
testify  to  the  uniform  kindness,  and  his  con 
stant  care  for,  and  hearty  sympathy  with, 
their  every  want  and  every  suffering;  while 
none  can  be  found  to  declare  that  he  was  ever 
a  tyrant  anywhere,  in  anything. 

Going  back  a  little  in  point  of  time,  it  is 
proper  to  say  that  so  soon  as  the  news  of  the 
battles  of  the  eighth  and  ninth  of  May,  1846, 
had  fairly  reached  the  United  States,  Gen 
eral  Taylor  began  to  be  named  for  the  next 


48          LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SEKVICE  OF 

Presidency,  by  letter  writers,  newspapers, 
public  meetings  and  conventions  in  various 
parts  of  the  country. 

These  nominations  were  generally  put  forth 
as  being  of  no-party  character.  Up  to  this 
time  I  think  it  highly  probable  —  nay,  al 
most  certain  —  that  General  Taylor  had 
never  thought  of  the  Presidency  in  connec 
tion  with  himself.  And  there  is  reason  for  be 
lieving  that  the  first  intelligence  of  these 
nominations  rather  amused  than  seriously  in 
terested  him.  Yet  I  should  be  insincere,  were 
I  not  to  confess  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  re 
peated  and  steady  manifestations  in  his  favor 
did  beget  in  his  mind  a  laudable  ambition  to 
reach  the  high  distinction  of  the  Presiden 
tial  chair. 

As  the  time  for  the  Presidential  canvass 
approached,  it  was  seen  that  general  nom 
inations,  combining  anything  near  the  num 
ber  of  votes  necessary  to  an  election,  could 


GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR     49 

not  be  made  without  some  pretty  strong  and 
decided  reference  to  party  politics.  Accord 
ingly,  in  the  month  of  May,  1848,  the  great 
Democratic  Party  nominated  as  their  can 
didate  an  able  and  distinguished  member  of 
their  own  party  [General  Cass]  on  strictly 
party  grounds.  Almost  immediately  follow 
ing  this,  the  Whig  Party,  in  General  Conven 
tion,  nominated  General  Taylor  as  their  can 
didate.  The  election  came  off  in  the  Novem 
ber  following,  and  though  there  was  also  a 
third  candidate,  the  two  former  only  re 
ceived  any  vote  in  the  electoral  college. 
General  Taylor,  having  the  majority  of  them, 
was  duly  elected;  and  he  entered  on  the  du 
ties  of  that  high  and  responsible  office,  March 
5, 1849.  The  incidents  of  his  administration, 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  are  too  familiar 
and  too  fresh  to  require  any  direct  repetition. 
The  Presidency,  even  to  the  most  expe 
rienced  politicians,  is  no  bed  of  roses;  and 


50          LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF 

General  Taylor,  like  others,  found  thorns 
within  it.  No  human  being  can  fill  that  sta 
tion  and  escape  censure.  Still,  I  hope  and  be 
lieve,  when  General  Taylor's  official  conduct 
shall  come  to  be  viewed  in  the  calm  light  of 
history,  he  will  be  found  to  have  deserved  as 
little  as  any  who  have  succeeded  him. 

Upon  the  death  of  General  Taylor,  as  it 
would  be  in  the  case  of  any  President,  we  are 
naturally  led  to  consider  what  will  be  its  ef 
fect,  politically,  upon  the  country.  I  will  not 
pretend  to  believe  that  all  the  wisdom,  or  all 
of  the  patriotism  of  the  country,  died  with 
General  Taylor.  But  we  know  that  wisdom 
and  patriotism,  in  a  public  office  under  in 
stitutions  like  ours,  are  wholly  inefficient 
and  worthless,  unless  they  are  sustained  by 
the  confidence  and  devotion  of  the  people. 
And  I  confess  my  apprehensions,  that  in  the 
death  of  the  late  President,  we  have  lost  a 
degree  of  that  confidence  and  devotion  which 


GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR     51 

will  not  soon  again  pertain  to  any  successor. 
Between  public  measures  regarded  as  an 
tagonistic,  there  is  often  less  real  difference  in 
their  bearing  on  the  public  weal,  than  there 
is  between  the  dispute  being  kept  up  or  be 
ing  settled  either  way.  I  fear  the  one  great 
question  of  the  day  is  not  now  so  likely  to  be 
partially  acquiesced  in  by  the  different  sec 
tions  of  the  Union,  as  it  would  have  been 
could  General  Taylor  have  been  spared  to  us. 
Yet,  under  all  circumstances,  trusting  to  our 
Maker  and  through  His  wisdom  and  benefi 
cence  to  the  great  body  of  our  people,  we  will 
not  despair,  nor  despond. 

In  General  Taylor's  general  public  re 
lation  to  his  country,  what  will  strongly  im 
press  a  close  observer  was  his  unostentatious, 
self-sacrificing,  long-enduring  devotion  to 
his  duty.  He  indulged  in  no  recreations,  he 
visited  no  public  places  seeking  applause; 
but  quietly,  as  the  earth  in  its  orbit,  he  was 


52          LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF 

always  at  his  post.  Along  our  whole  Indian 
frontier,  through  summer  and  winter,  in  sun 
shine  and  storm,  like  a  sleepless  sentinel, 
he  has  watched  while  we  have  slept  for  forty 
long  years.  How  well  might  the  dying  hero 
say  at  last, "  I  have  done  my  duty,  I  am  ready 
to  go." 

Nor  can  I  help  thinking  that  the  American 
people,  in  electing  General  Taylor  to  the 
Presidency,  thereby  showing  their  high  appre 
ciation  of  his  sterling,  but  inobtrusive  qual 
ities,  did  their  country  a  service,  and  them 
selves  an  imperishable  honor.  It  is  much 
for  the  young  to  know  that  treading  the  hard 
path  of  duty  as  he  trod  it  will  be  noticed,  and 
will  lead  to  high  places. 

But  he  is  gone.  The  conqueror  at  last  is 
conquered.  The  fruits  of  his  labor,  his  name, 
his  memory  and  example,  are  all  that  is  left 
us  —  his  example,  verifying  the  great  truth 
that  "he  that  humbleth  himself,  shall  be 


GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR    53 

exalted  " — teaching  that  to  serve  one's  coun 
try  with  a  singleness  of  purpose  gives  assur 
ances  of  that  country's  gratitude,  secures  its 
best  honors,  and  makes  "a  dying  bed,  soft 
as  downy  pillows  are." 

The  death  of  the  last  President  may  not  be 
without  its  use,  in  reminding  us  that  we,  too, 
must  die.  Death,  abstractly  considered,  is 
the  same  with  the  high  as  with  the  low;  but 
practically  we  are  not  so  much  aroused  by  the 
contemplation  of  our  own  mortal  natures,  by 
the  fall  of  many  undistinguished,  as  that  of 
one  great  and  well-known  name.  By  the 
latter,  we  are  forced  to  muse,  and  ponder 
sadly, 
"0,  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud?  " 

So  the  multitude  goes,  like  the  flower  or  the 
weed, 

That  withers  away,  to  let  others  succeed; 

So  the  multitude  comes,  even  those  we  be 
hold, 

To  repeat  every  tale  that  has  often  been  told. 


54          LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICE  OF 

For  we  are  same  that  our  fathers  have  been; 
We  see  the  same  sights  our  fathers  have 

seen,  — 
We  drink  the  same  streams,  and  see  the  same 

sun, 
And  run  the  same  course  our  fathers  have  run. 

They  loved,  but  the  story  we  cannot  unfold; 

They  scorned,  but  the  heart  of  the  haughty  is 
cold; 

They  grieved,  but  no  wail  from  their  slumbers 
will  come; 

They  rejoiced,  but  the  tongue  of  their  glad 
ness  is  dumb. 

They  died!  Aye,  they  died.  We,  things  that 

are  now, 

That  work  on  the  turf  that  lies  on  their  brow, 
And  make  in  their  dwellings  a  transient  abode, 
Meet  the  things  that  they  met  on  their  pil 
grimage  road. 

Yea!  hope  and  despondency,  pleasure  and 

pain 

Are  mingled  together  in  sunshine  and  rain  — 
And  the  smile  and  the  tear,  and  the  song  and 

the  dirge 
Still  follow  each  other  like  surge  upon  surge. 


GENERAL  ZACHARY  TAYLOR  55 

'T  is  the  wink  of  an  eye,  't  is  the  draught  of  a 

breath, 
From  the  blossom  of  health,  to  the  paleness  of 

death  - 
From  the  gilded  saloon,  to  the  bier  and  the 

shroud, 
0  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud? 


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